Tom Hall's Websites

Tom Hall's Recent Articles

Henrik Stenson is a great ball striker. We’ve known that for a long time. And although you will probably never be able to hit 300 yard 3 woods like Henrik can, there is something
you can adopt that he does.

At the start of Henrik’s swing he has a very clear forward press with his entire body. It’s almost more like a press down than a press forward. But whatever it is, it’s what he uses every time to start his swing.

Now if someone watched you would they see something very clearly that you do to trigger your swing?

Or would they see that you’re still over the ball and then just “randomly” start your swing?

If you don’t have a trigger to start your swing then you need to get one… all the great golfers do, like:

Jordan Spieth – kicks in his right knee

Matt Kuchar – hovers his club before taking it away

Jack Nicklaus – forward press and turns his head to the right

I could go on, but I’m sure you get the point. Look at some great golfers you admire and see what they do to start their swing and then implement.

When you do you’ll get better ball striking results because you’ll have a definite way of starting your golf swing. It will be the same each time and that can only do you good.

So contacting a golf ball an inch off the center of the clubface with a 100 mph swing speed, results in a 31 yard loss of distance!

Now a close second to that advice would be to speed up your swing at impact. That’s because for every 1 mph of swing speed you improve by, you’ll gain about 2.2 yards in distance.

So if you swing at 90mph at impact and you increase that by 10 mph, then you would have gained about 22 yards in distance!

Now imagine, combining swinging faster with hitting the ball in the middle of the clubface more often.

That’s a great combination, and I’m going to give you two things you can do the next time you go to the driving range to help you do that.

The first tip is to help you swing faster, and it’s really simple.

When you’re at the driving range, in between shots turn your driver upside down and swing it as fast as you can. Then carry that “speed” over to your next shot and feel the difference.

By doing that, it will force you to swing faster than you’re maybe used to – which is a good thing, because your mind likes to keep things exactly the same.

Now that increase in swing speed is only going to be of much use if you hit the center of the clubface more often.

To help you do that you need to get some feedback on where you’re hitting your driver.

But sadly, because the drivers these days can be so dead when you hit them, it’s tough to know when you hit it right out of the screws. However, it is doable if you increase your awareness.

And to help you do this I want you to get some impact tape and put it on your driver.

Then, hit your drives with your faster swing speed. After you hit each shot I then want you to predict where on the clubface your ball hit.

The strange thing about this is that often times awareness can be curative. For example, if you think you’re hitting the ball out of the middle of the clubface but 9 times out of 10 it’s on the toe you’ll naturally make corrections in your swing to hit the ball more in the middle of the clubface.

If you didn’t know this, of course you wouldn’t do anything different, because you wouldn’t know there was a problem.

But please remember this… you never want to think about impact or what you’re doing at impact.

Impact is not a position, it’s something you move through and you should not be thinking when you’re doing this.

So when you’re being aware of your impact ball position, do not try to hit the ball on the center of the clubface. Use observation and awareness to improve your results.

So there you go… use those two tips to help you hit longer drives and enjoy playing golf more

Bunker shots no longer have to be difficult. Typically itâ€™s tough for both inexperienced and seasonal golfers to play consistently good bunker shots, but it doesnâ€™t have to be this way. These tips have been prepared to help you become more confident and improve your sand bunker play.

In fact if youâ€™re new to the game you may have already fallen into the trap of thinking an explosion shot is the only way to play out of bunkers. If this is the case, you will hugely benefit from understanding how to adapt your bunker shots based on your lie and the type of sand you are in.

We have all seen coverage on TV where professional golfers have favoured being in a greenside bunker rather than in the semi rough beside it. They simply arenâ€™t fearful of being in the bunker and know within themselves that they will have greater control playing from sand. In fact they relish the opportunity to get it close from the bunker, which may not necessarily be possible from deep rough. By practising the following techniques you will gain a similar confidence and be prepared for any situation you find yourself in.

Undoubtedly solid practice of these basics will enable you to develop a good rhythm and confidence of mind. Ultimately the mental strength you will gain from being an improved bunker player will also help with your approach shots, as you feel less intimidated playing over or between bunkers.

Bunker Shots In A Nutshell

The primary thought for playing out of sand is to think of the bunker shot as one where the club hits the sand creating an explosion of sand that carries the golf ball out of the bunker. When you first start playing this can seem kind of weird because you have to start by learning how to hit the sand first. One mental trick is to forget the ball exists and imagine instead that itâ€™s a rather large grain of sand. Over time experience will teach you exactly how far behind the ball to hit the sand for different shots, but in the beginning a good rule of thumb is to hit 1.5 to 2 inches behind it.

Bunker Shots v. Chip Shots Comparison

If youâ€™re already confident with your chipping but continue to have trouble in the sand, itâ€™s worth making this comparison. Chipping and bunker play are the same in so much you need to break your wrists early and hold this position on the downswing. Importantly though when you play a chip shot the club face hits the ball, whereas with a bunker shot this isn’t a requirement and thereâ€™s more room for error in terms of how much sand you take. Thus technically a basic bunker isnâ€™t harder to play than a chip shot. In reality though the real problems in bunkers come from not having sufficient confidence to strike the sand where you are aiming with adequate control and rhythm. Additionally golfers have problems because they never really take the time to understand the construction of the sand wedge and how it differs from other clubs. Therefore if this is you, please read on for an explanation and the specific tips for playing out of bunkers.

Understanding The Sand Wedge

Itâ€™s important to appreciate that the sand wedge is constructed differently from the other irons in your bag, due primarily to a feature called the bounce. The bounce is the term given to the sole of the club, otherwise know as the flange. The sand wedge’s club face can vary from 55 to 58 degrees of loft, with 56 degrees being the most common one. The bounce can vary on average from 10 to 14 degrees of loft. Critically you need a club that works for you. Having too much bounce will cause you to bounce the clubhead into the side of the ball. Equally not having enough bounce will cause you to thin the ball because you will end up digging into the sand too much, just as if you were playing with a pitching wedge.

How To Play The Splash Bunker Shot

There are two main ways you to play a bunker shot with your sand wedge. Firstly you can play with a square face where the leading edge digs into sand and secondly by opening the clubface to skim through the sand with the bounce. The latter and most popular is often called an explosion or splash shot.

Here are the 8 exact steps to playing a splash bunker shot

1. Open up the clubface so as it still pointing to the target and take your grip. Generally the deeper the bunker the more you will have to open the face. The clubface is fully open when it is totally flat and if you cared to you could easily balance a bottle on it.

2. Set up with an open stance by adjusting your body so as your shoulders point to the left of your target. Typically aim 10 feet to the left of the target, around 15 – 20 degrees. Opening the clubface will naturally result in the ball shooting to the right and therefore by aligning yourself more to the left you counter this. Read More…

Putting is the most important part of the game and you can only excel with confidence.

The good news is that putting isnâ€™t difficult, you know you can make a short putt. The bad news is you know how difficult it is to consistently make short putts. Once you start to miss the short putts, your confidence wanes. To start holing them again you need a boost to your confidence, and there in lies the problem. How do you regain your confidence? How do you conquer the game of confidence as putting is often referred to?

Repeatedly missing short putts is no fun and destroys the enjoyment you should have playing this wonderful game. Do you feel humiliated at missing another short putts, itâ€™s simply embarrassing. No wonder it can feel like you are on a slippery slope as your game slips into an exercise of hitting and hoping. Putting with doubt and without confidence is a card wrecker, but I bet it hasnâ€™t always been that way!

Your current putting is probably totally alien to how you played as a kid when there was no fear or tension. Can you remember the competitions you used to play with your mates, there was no room for thinking you would miss. You were all absolutely confident of taking the money. I have fond memories of playing 36 holes as a junior, having something to eat and drink in the spike bar, and then out for evening contests on the practice putting green. There simply wasnâ€™t time for dwelling on the prospect of a three putt, instead thoughts were of how to hole yet another monster putt.

If you analyse what has happened over the decades, you may now find that the second you take your putter out of the bag, you are immediately in a love or hate relationship with the club. Quite simply, are you relishing the challenge ahead of you, or are you fearful of what might happen next? Are you fuelled with positive or negative emotions? Even before you start to read the line are you tentative rather than enthusiastic?

You definitely need the solid belief that stops you from being tentative, one that comes from having real confidence. The kind built on proper foundations because this is the part of the game where you mentally have to be at your toughest. The truth is you need a strong mental game to putt well. The pressure builds up as you get nearer the hole because there is no longer any more room to recover. You can recover from a sliced drive with a good recovery shot to the centre of the fairway. You can even recover from a poor approach shot with well played chip shot. But when it comes to putting there is no where to recover except from duly holing the putt in front of you!

Missing Putts Isn’t Your Fault

If you fail to hole the putt, you may be surprised to hear that for a large part it isnâ€™t your fault. Yes you heard that right. If you are like most golfers, you have been you have sadly been spoon fed three myths that need to be dispelled now before you can start to rebuild your confidence today.

Putting Myth 1 – Exposing The Lie About Putting Confidence

Too many golfers believe that all they need to do is start their round putting well and from there their confidence will grow. This is a myth because you should actually start your round with confidence so as you immediately start to hole short putts on the first green. You should already be confident so as the putts you hole on the first only go to make you even more positive. Read More…

On 2nd October 2011 I followed Michael Hoeyâ€™s progress over the last 9 holes of The Old Course, St Andrews during the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Walking the final stretch it was a real treat to see all of the mental golf game processes built by Dr Karl Morris and Hoey prove to be so effective under such immense pressure. Equally the importance of having a strong mental game was evident back in 2010 when another one of Dr Karl Morrisâ€™ clients Louis Oosthuizen won the Open Championship.

Ever since I interviewed Karl back in 2009 I have considered him to be a friend and someone I can definitely turn to for the very best advice on how to improve my own mental golf game. This is a certainly a privilege considering Karlâ€™s other clients include 2010 US Open Champion Graeme McDowell and 2011 Open Champion Darren Clarke.

Today I would like to share with you 7 ways Karl has taught me to improve my mental golf game.

1. Introduce a concentration trigger into your game

As previously mentioned one of the best displays of concentration and confident play around the Old Course I have ever seen was that of Louis Oosthuizen playing in the final round of the 2010 Open Championship. I can only imagine the number of distractions a player faces as they tee off in the last group of a major. Like me you you may be wondering how does anyone handle that kind of pressure and have the ability to concentrate for 4-5 hours.

Fortunately by carefully studying Louis’ play on that Sunday you can learn how to apply the same principles of concentration to your own mental game.

Surprising as it may seem, Louisâ€™ goal that week was not to win The Open. It wasnâ€™t even to qualify for the following year or make the top five. It had nothing to do with his score. He simply made it his goal to perfectly perform his pre-shot routine on every shot. In doing so he naturally scored well, but his attention was not on the numbers but instead on the task of repeatedly executing a successful pre-shot routine. Thereâ€™s a massive lesson here for you, if a professional tour player isnâ€™t preoccupied with their score why should you be? Read More…

I must admit that I was a bit skeptical of the 4 new magic moves. I teach Biology in the US and always need proof or evidence. I downloaded the free first four chapters and tried things out for myself. I had the opportunity to try things out this weekend and my results are amazing. I was hitting my 7 iron 200 yds without effort and my driver close to 300 yds.

Most impressive was the direction the bal, it is traveling STRAIGHT. I wish golf had been taught to me in this simple manner several years ago. It would have taken out a great deal of frustration. Thank you,

David Walker | JTonganoxie, Kansas, USA

Clive Haddow from the Gold Coast in Australia talks about the impact The New Four Magic Moves have made to his game. Despite playing golf for 45 years it was only until he discovered The New Four Magic Moves To Winning Golf that he was able to reduce his handicap from 9 down to 6. Without doubt the First Move, namely the early backward wrist break was the key move for Chris. Life on the Gold Coast is very good for Chris but it just got better when he discovered these four proven secrets to golf success.

Hi Andy,

My Name is Bobby Asbill and I live in Nashville, TN. I have always been a decent golfer shooting 82 - 86 for the last 3 years. I joined your site and program one night on a whim and here I am writing to tell you how much I have improved and thank you for helping me enjoy golf more.

I play once a week and my last four rounds are 76-78-74-78 ...My friends are in total shock and want to know what is going on. My drives are now 310 to 320 and I now hit my LW 120 instead of 75 yards.The game is more fun now and I feel and my friends say it all the time now that I am on the verge of shooting great scores.

I played with 3 guys at the club the other day I didn 't know and now I 'm playing in a tournament with them. They could not believe my new found length and accuracy.It feels good and just wanted to share. hank you for helping me and changing my game.

Bobby Asbill | Nashville, TN, USA

Dave Larsen from Wisconsin
describes how The New Four Magic Moves has transformed his game. He downloaded
The New Four Magic Moves To Winning Golf book 5 months ago and having read it
he went straight to the golf range and his words: it changed his life, it's absolutely amazing! Dave has now increased his drives by about 50 yards and thus he finds himself hitting the ball 260 - 280 yards dead straight down the middle. His friends can't believe how well his game has improved! He still can't believe how well he is now playing with rounds around the 74 - 76 mark, far better than the 81s he used to shoot a few short months ago.

Howdy Andy,

I have been using the New Four Magic Moves off and on for the past 6 months with varied results, but that is my own fault as I also find myself slipping back into other ways of approaching the golf swing which has led to body and mind confusion.

When I consistently stick to the First Magic Move, my bad swings at least result in straight shots and that is not too bad as this is far better results than lots of the other approaches to swings that create pulls, pushes slices and hooks as well as lots of topped and fat shots.

I have been playing golf again after a 30+ year absence from the wonderful but often frustrating game. When I played before I was in my 20's and 30's and my golf swing was my own as I had neither taken lessons nor done much reading about the science and art of a gold swing. Gee, I wish I had known of the New Four Magic Moves back then.

In summary, after playing around with at least 6 other approaches to the golf swing, I am now more convinced than ever that the New Four Magic Moves is about the only way to have a consistent golf game.

Jerry Cook | Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, USA

Mike Morris from the South of England talks about how he has finally found something to help his golf game at GolfSwingSecretsRevealed.com. The New Four Magic Moves have allowed him to be more confident on the golf course and he is hitting straighter and longer balls. Mike thoroughly recommends these four proven secrets to dramatically improving your handicap.